1970–1976: Early years From 1970 to 1980, Murphy worked as a
Manhattan Avenue jingle writer, writing for such clients as Lady Arrow shirts, Revlon, Woolworth's, Viasa Airlines, and Korvette's, as well as arrangements for the popular children's television series
Big Blue Marble. often at the
New Rochelle club Pearly's. During an appointment with
Bobby Rosengarden, bandleader of the
Dick Cavett Show orchestra, Murphy convinced the group to play some of his arrangements when he found Rosengarden to be absent. Looking back on the situation, he stated "I still can't believe I did it. I'm not a very forward person."—and mailed it to various record labels in New York City. Response was generally unimpressive, but "Fifth" caught the interest of
Private Stock Records owner
Larry Uttal. Murphy signed on to Private Stock and recorded the album
A Fifth of Beethoven. The first single and title track, "A Fifth of Beethoven", was released on May 29, 1976. It was a hit, starting out at number 80 on the
Billboard Hot 100 and eventually reaching number 1 within 19 weeks, where it stayed for one week. The single sold two million copies, while the album sold about 750,000 copies. The second single, a rendition of
Nikolai Rimsky-Korsakov's "
Flight of the Bumblebee" titled "Flight '76", was less successful, reaching only number 44 on the Hot 100 and number 35 in
Canada. The single was initially credited to "Walter Murphy & The Big Apple Band" upon encouragement from Private Stock, who believed it would become a hit if credited to a group rather than an individual. However, two days following the record's release, Private Stock discovered the existence of another Big Apple Band (which promptly changed its name to
Chic). As result, the record was later re-released and credited to "The Walter Murphy Band", then just "Walter Murphy". Two singles were released: a disco treatment of
George Gershwin's "
Rhapsody in Blue", and the self-penned instrumental "Uptown Serenade." The former narrowly missed the top 100, but received significant play on easy-listening stations, according to
Billboard. (In 2019, it was employed in the opening
mise-en-scène of
episode 8 of the HBO
Watchmen series, set in an
alternate-historical
Saigon on the anniversary of the American victory in the
Vietnam War.) In 1978, Murphy recorded the album
Phantom of the Opera, a concept album telling the story of
The Phantom of the Opera, featuring Gene Pistilli as
Erik/The Phantom, B.G. Gibson as
Raoul, and
Renée Geyer as
Christine. The album spawned three singles: "Dance Your Face Off"/"Gentle Explosion" (a
double A-side), "Toccata and Funk in 'D' Minor", and "The Music Will Not End". These singles failed to make the Hot 100, club, or radio charts.
1979–1982: RCA and MCA years, Uncle Louie Murphy signed on to
RCA in 1979, and released the album ''Walter Murphy's Discosymphony''. The album spawned the singles "Bolero" and "Mostly Mozart"; the latter failed to chart, indicating that Murphy had taken the "classical disco" concept as far as it could go. Also in 1979, Murphy and Gene Pistilli joined with brothers Eddie and Frank Dillard, forming the band Uncle Louie. They signed on to
TK Records and released one album, ''Uncle Louie's Here'', which explored a more aggressive, funk-based angle than Murphy's solo albums. The album spawned three singles: "Full-Tilt Boogie", which reached number 19 on the
Billboard R&B chart, "I Like Funky Music", and "Sky High". Around this time, Murphy and Pistilli wrote and/or produced songs for other artists, including "
Something to Hold Onto" (1981) by
Harry Belafonte and "What's Wrong With This Picture?" (1980) by Lora Lee Cliff. Murphy also contributed arrangements to Jack Jones's
Nobody Does It Better (1979) and
Pia Zadora's
Rock It Out (1984). In 1982, Murphy signed on to
MCA Records and recorded
Themes from E.T. the Extra-Terrestrial and More. The album contained disco- and pop-tinged arrangements of themes to popular movies of the time, such as
E.T. the Extra-Terrestrial,
Indiana Jones, and
Poltergeist. The album spawned one single, a
medley of "Themes from ET (The Extra-Terrestrial)", which climbed to number 47 on the
Billboard Hot 100.
1982–1999: Move to behind-the-scenes roles Following
Themes from E.T., Murphy largely ceased touring and recording studio albums of original material. He instead began focusing more exclusively on composing for film and television, and producing for other artists, in a more behind-the-scenes role. Artists that Murphy has recorded and/or produced for include
Dolly Parton,
Sylvester Stallone,
Jennifer Warnes,
Siedah Garrett,
Tim Schmitt,
Richie Havens,
Isaac Hayes,
Taj Mahal,
Paul Williams, and
Kenny Rankin. He was also a guest conductor for the
Dallas Symphony Orchestra, during their successful Summer Pops series. In 1984, Murphy and television composer
Mike Post co-produced
Alabama's "Rock on the Bayou", the B-side to the band's hit single "
(There's A) Fire in the Night". "Rock on the Bayou" was featured in the independent film
The River Rat, which Post also composed the music for. In 1985, Murphy collaborated with Post,
Rick James, and Issac Hayes on scoring music for
The A-Team episode "The Heart of Rock 'N Roll". In 1997, Murphy composed music for the
Norman Lear produced
Kids' WB animated show,
Channel Umptee-3.
1999-present: Collaborations with Seth MacFarlane Since 1999, Murphy has served as one of the two main composers for the animated series
Family Guy, the other being
Ron Jones until the 12th season in 2014. He has described his scores for
Family Guy as "a combination of [big-band swing and action-orchestral]." In 2005, Murphy scored music for the offshoot album
Family Guy: Live in Vegas. Since 2005, Murphy is one of the composers for MacFarlane's
American Dad!, the other two being
Joel McNeely and
Ron Jones, as well as composing the series' theme song "Good Morning USA". From 2009 to 2013, Murphy composed music for MacFarlane's series
The Cleveland Show, including the main title theme. In 1989, Murphy arranged the song "The Gift" on Rotella's album
Home Again. In 2014, Murphy and Rotella wrote and recorded a four-track big band project, inspired by the
Wes Montgomery and
Verve-era
Oliver Nelson records of the 1960s that the two of them had grown up on. The project was recorded in
Capitol Studio A with engineer
Al Schmitt, and performed by renown Los Angeles session musicians. ==Filmography==